Nikki no longer flew above them, but given that they now were walking in a straight path towards Astera that was understandable. The main reason for their haste was simply a desire to exit the Teostra’s territory as soon as possible.

  Valen and Ikari spoke on the way, with the occasional comment from Adem, discussing the feelings that he got from being so close to an Elder that was clearly not used to or normally friendly with Valen. Adem commented that he managed to make himself as unnoticeable as possible, though when the Teostra pulled out his aura full force he was overwhelmed, albeit not as much as Ikari was.

  One thing they were all in agreement with, however, was that they would not reveal the involvement of Nikki once they made their report. They did not need to edit the events that much though, as Nikki’s contribution was minimal enough to not change the events drastically.

  Finally, they settled on something they decided would hold against scrutiny, and Ikari made sure that the real version of the events was noted on his private notebook, like Valen did.

  Then after a few days of walking at a rapid pace, they arrived at Astera. The sentries announced their return to the Commander, and thus he was already waiting for them once they entered the city, to which Valen smiled as they nodded in greeting.

  “Valen, Ikari, I trust that your quick return means that the mission went well?”

  “It has, I think everybody will be surprised by what happened there, but I will wait until the council has been assembled.”

  Thus Valen’s group headed for the council table, so they could deliver their report to the scientists and leaders. Ikari started organizing the notes he had taken over the course of their supposed hunt so they could explain what happened more in detail.

  Adem jumped on Valen’s shoulder so he could observe the proceedings, and then the various leaders started to arrive, the researchers first as they seemed to know something unusual was about to happen and didn’t want to miss the action.

  Once everybody was finally assembled, Arcos motioned for them to start their report.

  “We had first reached the zone where the sightings have been made,” Valen began, “and indeed found traces of the Teostra’s presence. One thing that we quickly noticed was that he seemed to stay on the ground more than usual, so we suspected an injury. The Scoutflies managed to find the trail soon enough at least. However, it took us several days to finally reach his lair.”

  Ikari took over. “Once we were certain it was the lair, Valen wanted to attempt something. We all know the stories about Elders being intelligent enough to rival us, and Valen thought he was attuned enough with his armor so that he could convey to the Elder that he would be left alone so long as it preserved the ecosystem. He was successful.”

  Gasps echoed all around them, the scientists were furiously writing notes, others looking at Valen under a new light, but the Commander… he was grinning.

  “This is definitely huge news! This is the kind of discovery we wanted to make here, given that Hunters have seldom been active there. Most Elders attack hunters on sight back in the Old World, but here? It seems like they are more passive than they normally are. This new discovery will help us understand what made the Old World’s Elders so… tempermental.”

  “How did you manage to convey your attention to the Teostra, Sky Piercer? This is not something that would be easy to interpret I imagine.”

  Valen nodded. “It isn’t, but… I think you all know about the armor, and weapons of Hunters feeling somewhat ‘Alive’ at this point, especially those made out of Elders?” The whole table nodded. “This is something that is especially true for mine.” He turned around, presenting the thrusters to them. “One thing I haven’t shared with anybody but my smith, Adem, and Ikari until now is that I actually do not use the controls integrated into my armor for these thrusters. They simply respond to my wishes, and sometimes even seem to react to threats I did not detect.”

  The scientists were taking notes furiously, truly delighted by the new information. The Commander frowned for a bit, seemingly debating something internally before nodding.

  “Valen, everybody here is aware of the true meaning of Named Hunters, with the exception of Ikari, but I’ll clear him now for the information.” Arcos said, surprising everybody, and especially Ikari, who became confused by the meaning.

  The Hunter nodded, then tapped the spot on his back where the Mindstone was secured on the armor. “The gem that I called the Ruby Dragon Mindstone seems to be at the heart of the phenomenon. I haven’t asked this question to Jake, but I’m certain he would share my feelings. However, I can confirm something similar happened for my smith, who is actually the Green Devil.”

  Suddenly the Second Fleet Master let out a booming laugh, the sound resounding through the room they were all gathered in. “Figures,” he chuckled. “Even I’ve heard about her, though I didn’t expect that it was her you were talking about when you talked about who forged your armor. Now I really want to meet her.” He finished with a chuckle.

  Valen nodded. “So I believe this helped me for the Teostra. The way we communicated was primal, it was a bit of body language, but most importantly, I felt like I could project my intentions in a pure, raw form, like it was unmistakable what I desired. And the Teostra did the same thing back, but it was amplified, powerful.”

  He shared a glance with Ikari, who nodded.

  “Ikari couldn’t stand it, and he was a fair bit away. Adem couldn’t as well, but as for myself? I was able to withstand it, even if barely. I do not know how long it lasted, but then he stopped, and then seemed to look at me with a new feeling of respect. My theory is that he was testing me, and I passed.”

  Everybody seemed to be thinking about his words, but then Lukas remarked. “This will change things. If we are able to come to an understanding with Elders, it would help our duty.”

  “Not all Elders are hostile, some seem to just want to be left alone… Though we do have some anomalies. That Valstrax that seems to fly around but never attack is the main one. The most unusual occurrence was at the Great Canyon. You think the Valstrax could be friendly?”

  Valen was thankful that he did not remove his helmet, else his smile would have been visible to everybody. “Possibly. S-It hasn’t shown any hostile intentions so far.” Valen cursed internally, he almost slipped Nikki’s gender, which would have raised some questions. Even then he noticed the Commander raised an eyebrow. He firmed himself “I have studied the patterns of the Valstrax that the Soaratorium chased, and it did not have the same patterns that the one we see around has. I’ll keep an eye on it as much as I can though.”

  “Make sure you do.” Arcos said, then looked at his handler. “Ikari, share your findings with the researchers so they can record them. Chief Ecologist, inform him what the Named Hunters actually mean. Valen, you can go rest.You have successfully accomplished your task, so standby here on Astera as you are our only elite hunter right now.” Valen nodded. “That is everything, council dismissed!”

  Valen and Ikari shared a nod and they separated, Ikari going to the researchers while Valen went to his quarters so he could relax. He sighed, doffing his armor with the help of Adem, storing it on his armor stand and after Valen dressed in casual clothes, the both of them simply wandered around Astera, enjoying the flurry of activity and the respect everybody had for them. Valen was content to simply enjoy it, satisfied with a job accomplished.

  Several days later however, Rapha?lle had come back to Astera as well, and the lack of a body gave him a hint that there was a positive outcome as well.

  “Now that we are all here, we can start. By the lack of a body, I am guessing that there is no cause for concern?”

  Rapha?lle nodded. “We managed to track down the unknown Elder in the deepest parts of the Vale, where sunlight is scarce and bioluminescent plants and fauna are far more common, and it took us a while to find it.”

  Sophie nodded enthusiastically, then placed some sketches on the table. The drawings depicted an Elder covered in rotting flesh and membranes. Its most notable feature however was the two jaws that were visible on the head.

  “We managed to glimpse parts of his real hide, which seems to be covered in shiny scales.” Sophie continued. “The Third Fleet Leader took upon herself to name it ‘Vaal Hazak’. The name is fitting given the appearance of the Elder. However, that isn’t the most important part. We confirmed that it is critical to the stability of the Rotten Vale.”

  The scientists were writing in a background of scratches after that, then the Commander asked. “Are you certain?”

  Rapha?lle nodded. “We followed it for several days and we are certain it has some kind of symbiosis with the effluvium of the Vale, and seems to be able to regulate it. We are uncertain as to how it would upset the balance should it perish, so we decided that the best path is simply to observe it and leave it alone as much as possible. It clearly was aware of us, but did not seem interested in protecting his territory as much as we expected.”

  Valen then asked. “So you are certain the increased activity is not cause for concern?”

  “No, it seems to simply be a reaction to the Elder deaths that happened due to Nergigante recently. It is like he was making sure the Vale stayed stable. It is just my personal theory though.” Rapha?lle suggested warily.

  “Personal theories are all we have at the moment. We will note it as such, but not outright dismiss it!” The Chief Ecologist said. “We are tasked to solve the mystery of the Elder’s Crossing, and every theory is a piece to the edifice!”

  Rapha?lle seemed to think for a bit before she agreed. “Alright, thanks. So once we made sure the Elder wasn’t aggressive, we collected samples then left and came back. The Third Fleet decided to stay, so they could observe the changes it was making on the surface layers of the Vale.”

  “Good Job Huntress Rapha?lle.” He turned to Valen then said. “I suggest you fill her in on what happened on your side, then wait for the return of Jake and Aiden and do a final briefing on the whole situation. The rest of you, go back to your usual tasks, dismissed!”

  Sophie picked up her papers and followed the scientist so she could share her more in-depth analysis, Ikari following her, while Valen motioned for Rapha?lle to follow him.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  He discussed with her the details of what happened during his mission, how he tracked the Teostra, but especially the encounter with it, and how it ended somewhat peacefully. She seemed shocked at some points, then was pensive for a while before she said. “That’s unprecedented. I don’t remember if there was ever such a peaceful resolution with an Elder. This is something we should keep in mind in the future.”

  “That was my feeling as well. The fact yours also seemed to be peaceful or at least disinterested shows that they aren’t all aggressive towards us like many seem to think.” His lips quirked up a smile. “Heck, one day maybe somebody will manage to befriend one!”

  Rapha?lle smiled, before she tilted her head and looked mischievously at Valen. “You know, I am kind of surprised it hasn’t happened already. That sounds like the kind of thing that would be heard about if it were known. It wouldn’t be that hard to relate a certain Elder sighting with the same movements of a Hunter…”

  Valen chuckled. “That is true.” Internally though he was being careful, he did not want to appear suspicious of that very fact to Rapha?lle. “Something to hope for in the future.”

  “Indeed.” Rapha?lle then asked. “By the way, you told me earlier what your armor is able to do. I don’t think I feel the same with mine, though my weapon seems to act that way at times…”

  “I’m not surprised. Your weapon is complete, but your armor is only partly made, given that you weren’t able to use the whole body of the Nergigante.”

  She seemed thoughtful for a bit, then nodded. “You’re probably right.” Then she yawned, covering her mouth with her hand. “Sorry, didn’t sleep well. Should probably call it off for today.”

  “Go for it. I’m the one that is on standby on Astera anyways, since Jake is currently with Aiden.”

  “Thank you, and good luck.”

  He then accompanied her out of his room, after which she headed for her own. He then went to patrol just outside of Astera so that he could make sure no threats were around, though he felt like something was nagging him at the back of his mind. Something important was happening outside, but he did not know what. Adem told him that he had the same feeling, but had no idea as well. They finally decided to dismiss the feeling and went on to their task.

  The unusual feeling did not disappear, however, it only grew over the following days. It was a feeling of foreboding, of a coming confrontation, of fate itself being at play. Surprisingly, even Rapha?lle ended up confiding with him that she was having the same sensation.

  They were worried because the most logical thing was that it had to do with Aiden and that something was going on with his own investigation. There was nothing they could do but wait at this point though, so wait they did.

  And then it came to a crescendo and shifted into what could be described as victory and triumph. Valen was surprisingly feeling relieved, as if what was supposed to happen did, and it reached the logical conclusion. He did not share this fact with others besides Rapha?lle though, as they decided it was a better idea to wait.

  Then a couple days later, the Third Fleet Airship was finally spotted on the horizon on a direct course towards Astera. It seemed to fly faster than usual, as if the wind's current spurred it on, as if their return was encouraged to be prompt. Over the course of a few hours, everybody started to gather on the walls of Astera, as if they knew they shouldn’t miss this, unconsciously realizing something big was about to happen.

  Finally, the airship moored at the specially constructed dock for it. Valen was waiting near the exit for the dock, next to the Commander. Then the gangplank was lowered and surprisingly, instead of the Third Fleet Master or Jake, it was Aiden who was waiting to debark the airship first. His usual cheery face was not as pronounced, and he definitely felt more serious, but also more… Present, as if his own aura had intensified.

  Valen gasped, he had a suspicion as to what happened.

  Aiden walked the length of the gangplank, then faced Arcos. Then he smiled and spoke, “Hunt complete, Commander.”

  Everybody took a split second to react, then people started to gasp as they realized the implication, the true meaning of the words. Valen smiled, and the Commander did as well… and finally, people started to cheer.

  Then a large movement caught everybody’s eyes as people on the airship removed a large blanket that had been covering the body of the Kushala, which only made the cheering redouble in intensity now that they were able to see the body. Aiden smiled at this and went to Valen, at which point they both nodded to each other and embraced into a hug. He then headed towards the crowd to receive all the congratulations and cheering from everybody in Astera. Valen's defeat of the Valstrax was not as public as this one so he couldn’t really empathize, but he knew that from now on Aiden would be regarded differently, and everybody would respect him in a new way. Valen smiled and promised that he would help him settle into his newfound fame.

  It took a few hours for the celebrations to abate, but now everybody was once again united around the council table. Rapha?lle was missing though, as she was currently busy with making sure the party would not go out of control, as the spirits were still high in the background. The Commander smiled at this before starting the meeting.

  “I know we will have celebrations all night long, but we still need to do this debrief. We all know the result, but could you fill us with what happened that led to this?”

  Aiden’s handler, Lea stepped forward and looked at her hunter, who nodded in agreement.

  “We started the investigation at the spot where the Kushala Daora had been sighted at. And we quickly found signs of its presence. A lot of signs, and it worried us, it was like it did not care about its environment and was trying to make it more suitable to its needs. Several trees had been destroyed, and we confirmed it employed its powers to remove vegetation, leaving only bare rock in places.”

  She pulled out her notebook and showed some very rough sketches of the destruction that had been observed on the environment.

  “Once I took enough notes to confirm that we needed to do something about it, I gave the authorization for them to fulfill the hunt to end the threat. So Hunters Jake and Aiden started tracking down the Elder.”

  At this point, Jake took over, “We were able to find the trail rapidly and easily, which isn’t surprising as it wasn’t making any attempts at stealth whatsoever. The trail led us deep into the heart of the forest. I took the lead and Aiden followed. However, it took us several days to catch up to the Elder, as it seemed to be constantly changing locations. We aren’t sure as to why, but it delayed our task by several days. But finally, we were able to catch up.” Then he looked at Aiden.

  “We observed the Elder for a while at first to figure out a reason for its aggressive behavior. We noticed that it seemed to be injured on the flank, but the wound had healed already. But when it simply did not stop thrashing around, we decided that putting it down was the only option.”

  Then the two of them went into narrating the grueling fight they led against the Elder. From Jake opening the fight with a well-timed ambush to Aiden keeping it distracted once he joined in and making good use of the power of his Gunlance against the armored hide of the Kushala Daora, his shield protecting him from retaliatory attacks.

  The fight was long and arduous, with no room for error as they went about their assigned task and wore down the Elder. Jake and Aiden proved to be a great duo and they did not hinder each other. Aiden’s Gunlance was able to expose the Elder’s softer flesh and Jake thus used those weakpoints to get at the softer internals of the monster.

  However, the fight could not go smoothly forever, and eventually the Kushala managed to catch Jake off guard with a gust of wind, which put the experienced hunter off-balance, and a powerful ball of wind managed to eject him out of the area they were fighting in.

  At first, Aiden was shocked by the turn of events, but he managed to keep his focus in the fight and continued it alone.

  “However, I did not realize it at first, but I will say that something shifted with me. I suddenly became more aware of my movements and of the Kushala. It was like I knew what it was going to do every time, and what motions I should do in response. And as a result, instead of losing ground against the constant onslaught it was throwing at me? I was winning. I was pushing the Kushala back.

  “I was able to reload my shells in a smoother motion, using them more often than before, blasting more and more gaps in its armor. Nothing the Kushala did was able to go through my defenses. However, it quickly became desperate and started to be more reckless with its attacks, putting everything it could into them. I barely could block this renewed onslaught, and I remember my shoulder hurting a lot at this point.” He chuckled. “But in return, it overextended a lot more during its attacks, and after a particularly vicious bite, I even managed to stick my one Wyrsmstake into its left shoulder, which seemed to seriously reduce the mobility of the leg.”

  He took a deep breath. “At this point, the Kushala seemed to realize that it needed to escape. It seemed to be unable to jump back, however, and so couldn’t create distance between us. And then I had a crazy idea. I pushed forward with my shield and bashed it with it, dazing it. And I started the charge-up sequence for Wyvernfire.”

  Everybody gasped at this, Valen included. Wyvernfire was a risky move, even for the most experienced Gunlance users. It consumed all of the weapon’s ammunition in one concentrated burst and locked up the reloading mechanism, making the weapon completely unusable until it cooled down to a safer level. It was something only used as a last resort.

  “As I expected, the Kushala realized the power of the attack once it recovered and attempted to protect its head, exposing its wing in the process. I managed to break off the main bone of its left wing, which now meant it was grounded and could not flee. This combined with the blood loss it had been suffering from since the start seemed to be enough to weaken it completely, and suddenly it collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily.”

  Jake finally took over. “I managed to climb back in at that point, and that was indeed the sight I was greeted with, a Kushala Daora laying on the ground, wings spread on the ground with one of them broken, and Aiden warily walking up to him with his shield in front of him, but his Gunlance red hot and smoking. However, it was the way the Kushala looked at Aiden that made me pause. It was a look that I know, a look that I received once.”

  Valen inhaled sharply. He knew what this meant. After all, he was the subject of such a look before.

  Aiden nodded at the more experienced hunter and then asked. “Should I…”

  “I believe everybody is cleared for the knowledge here Aiden, show them.”

  Once he got his answer he opened his bag and pulled out a drawstring pouch, then placed it on the table. Opening it revealed, as Valen expected, a glittering gem, to which everybody gasped, except the Second Fleet Master, who simply whistled at it.

  “It has been a long time since I have last seen one.”

  Valen patted Aiden’s back. “I remember the time when I got mine. Crazy to think it’s been more than five years already.” He then smirked. “That now means we are equals Aiden!”

  Then the Commander stopped the conversation with his authoritative voice.

  “Hunter Aiden! Do you truly realize what this means?”

  “I think I have an idea. Does it have to do with Named Hunters?” Everybody on the table nodded. “I had my suspicions, which is not hard to do when you have traveled far and wide with a hunter that became one!”

  “That is not surprising. The ceremony traditionally takes place after the Hunter has his armor finished and at Dundorma. But given our situation, we will make do with what we have here.”

  “And I can’t wait to work on this fine specimen of a Kushala Daora!” The Second Fleet Master exclaimed. “We will make an armor set and weapon befitting of your status, you can be sure of that! We will hammer it together!”

  “You will both start working on it tomorrow,” The Commander said. “I’m afraid that missing the celebration that is currently being prepared by your colleagues is not something I would recommend.”

  “Then let all return to it! Let's make a feast that is befitting of the name! After that, I'm as hungry as a Deviljho!” Aiden proclaimed.

  Everybody did a hurrah in response to that, and the Commander did not need to notify them that the Council was dismissed for them to start dispersing.

  The Meowscular chef sprinted towards his kitchen so that he could make sure to cook enough meal for the feast that was sure to happen that night, while Valen joined the steady stream of Hunters that were heading to the Celestial Pursuit, which due to the amount of people feasting, would be closed to all non-Hunters.

  That night was a night of celebration, full of ale and beer, though Valen made sure to drink with moderation this time, as he did not wish to repeat the experience he had during the journey on the ship. But he still competed in arm-wrestling tournaments, ate meals with fellow Hunters, and sang songs to celebrate Aiden’s achievement. He was certainly happy for his friend, and was internally relieved that he would now have the equipment that would keep him alive should he need to assist Valen against a dangerous foe.